Throughout the ages there have been what in modern times we would call inappropriate songs.These are songs that are sexually, politically or otherwise "no-no" songs.One example is "Slap Her Down Again, Paw"!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd4kIvqGNek

Yet another one is "You Blacked my blue eyes Once too Often" I believe the chorus is You blacked my blue eyes once too often. You're too handy at breaking my jaw. You blacked my blue eyes once too often. Now I'm going back home to my maw. I do not know the rest of the lyrics nor can I find the song or video.Any other songs of this ilk? Bawdy songs are acceptable.

There is a book called something like Bawdy Songs of the Early Music Hall which collects together a fairly representative sample of the songs that were sung there in the first half of the 19th Century. They are almost without exception (a) extremely smutty, and (b) not very good. I had been hoping to dig up something with which to scandalise modern audiences, but these are mostly really charmless and surprisingly boring. The editor notes that he chose the least bad out of hundreds of similar ones -- the mind boggles.

I admit I was taken aback the first time I heard a recording of Pete Seeger unapologetically singing Ain't It a Shame?:

Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday ? Ain't it a shame? Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday ? Ain't it a shame ? Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday- When you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Oh, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Ain't it a shame ?

John Morgan was a 19th century ballad writer, whose work appeared on many a cheap and cheerful broadside sheet of that period. He wrote pretty much anything that paid, including topical songs, gallows ballads, campaign songs for politicians and good old-fashioned filth. Two of his best innuendo-laden sex songs were The Beautiful Muff and The Cottage, both of which can be found in the Bodleian Library's collection. You can get a taste of their shamelessly suggestive lyrics in the blue box here .

Pretty much anything from Kinky Friedman, someone is going to find inappropriate.

You uppity women I don't understand Why you gotta go and try to act like a man, But before you make your weekly visit to the shrink You'd better occupy the kitchen, liberate the sink.

Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed That's what I to my baby said, Women's liberation is a-going to your head, Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed.

Or maybe you'd prefer

Well, a redneck nerd in a bowling shirt was a-guzzlin' lone star beer Talking religion and-uh politics for all the world to hear. "they oughta send you back to russia, boy, or new york city one You just want to doodle a christian girl and you killed god's only son." I said, "has it occurred to you, you nerd, that that's not very nice, We jews believe it was santa claus that killed jesus christ." "you know, you don't look jewish," he said, "near as I could figger I had you lamped for a slightly anemic, well-dressed country nigger."

Or maybe

And I'm proud to be an asshole from El Paso A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered. You walk down the street knee-deep in tacos Ta-ta-ta-tacos And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour.

Don't want to round on Lennon too much, but "yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye" and "You've been a naughty girl, you've let your knickers down" didn't exactly do it for me either. There's plenty of context though. The wiki article on I Am The Walrus is quite interesting.

I am not sure who wrote or sang this little ditty , maybe Oscar Brand on L one of his bawdy songs albums.. Anyway, it's inappropriate: Last night I contemplated masturbation, oh wasn't it grand Oh wasn't it grand! With a flip of the hand, with the flip of the hand! Left hand, right hand, flip it in and out! Left hand right hand, flip it all about! They say that sexual intercourse is something very grand But for personal satisfaction I would rather use my hand. !

Though this thread is looking for Inappropriate Songs for all occasions a singaround can be made or wrecked by the singing of the right or wrong choice of song. As well as knowing your song I do think it is important to sing the right song for the moment.

As JHW says, sometimes songs are inappropriate for a particular reason with a particular group of people. I have never felt very comfortable with songs Ike "Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk" or "Glasgow Lullaby" - not been a victim myself, thank goodness, but they are about wife battering. "Goodbye Booze" - might be a struggling alcoholic in the room..... But the worst, although done in all innocence, was when someone sang a song about having cancer, right next to someone who was then undergoing chemotherapy: most of us knew, but the singer didn't!

I remember a group of us singing 'Lord of the dance' at a community centre for the disabled. Too late to do anything once we had started and everyone took it in good heart :-)

I returned from a trip to Antigua with a miniature steel drum and a Rastafarian type hat. I practiced a tune on the drum and got it off pretty well so took both down to the folk club one night. For the first time ever, at our club, a black singer turned up. I decided to postpone the airing of the hat and drum!

During Christmas Vacation of my freshman year of high school, I went sledding on Cain Park Hill, the steepest "safe" place to go. Going double decker made the sled harder to steer, screaming didn't help - many were hollering for the fun of it, and so ended up going face first into the runner of a guy's sled. He was too busy chatting up a chick to notice anything else.

The damage was considerable, though not very bloody: I had knocked two front teeth off at the gum line. I love Spike Jones as much as the next silly person, but anyone playing, humming, singing, or whistling "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" at me was going to know how very inappropriate that song is in my presence!

Joanne in Cleveland, coincidentally nursing a broken back tooth this week

I used to love doing that song (it almost got me married 40 years ago!), but stopped a while back when I had to admit to myself that it's ultimately about a lecherous old geezer getting a 17 year old virgin drunk and raping her. Conscience finally kicked in on that one.

Speaking about inapprobriate situations, I once told a racist joke which I had heard and which I, at the time , considered really humorous.It was in a group of university friend.When no one laughed I realized that I had made a faux pas.Imagine my shame when someone said "You do know that ...is black". I have ever since that day never told an inappropriate racist joke to anyone. Of course I repeatedly apologized to the injured person but the deed had been done. I have ever since regretted it.

In my repertoire are numerous comic songs about situations which in real life are not in the least bit funny - industrial accidents, unwanted pregnancies, alcohol abuse, marital infidelity, animal cruelty (albeit unintentional). I'm always conscious that they may touch a raw nerve with anyone who has actually been on the receiving end.

I heard of someone who did "Weela weela walia" at a Scottish children's home and wondered why it got a response of uncomfortable silence. Turned out one of the staff had gone berserk and killed one of the kids the previous year.

Just back from a wonderful Scottish festival, at which we had visitors from France, Germany, Israel, USA and Canada. Was about to launch into "The Battle of the Somme" when the German visitors walked in - no I didn't! Played "Ode to Joy" instead!

I was responsible for organising a festival concert a few years back, featuring several short acts of the local talent: so I asked everyone for a set list so that any duplications of song choices could be avoided. One local songwriter said - "Doesn't matter, as I'll only be singing my own songs". During the day several of us had been to the funeral and cremation of the Mum of one of our Committee members. Yer man gets up and sings "Your Granny makes a lovely cup of tea" - which is basically about mixing up the tea urn with the ashes urn! Thank heavens, our bereaved Committee member had decided she didn't feel up to coming to the concert!

+1 sometimes songs are inappropriate for a particular reason with a particular group of people.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA I picked up occasional gigs at various clinics run by the Veterans Administration (VA) of the federal govt. It was pretty much plug & play - the staff would set up a mediocre but serviceable sound system (almost always a Yamaha StagePass 300), I'd bring in a couple of guitars, etc. Altho there was very little info ahead of each performance, the audiences were consistently groups of older guys, a few from WWII, many who fought in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. I played songs from the 1920s-1970s.

One day I showed up for an afternoon gig and it was a different sort of group with about 50 guys I'm guessing in the 20-60 age range. Thinking little of it, I set up and launched into Ain't Nobody's Business, "Champagne don't make me lazy, whiskey it doesn't make me crazy. They say candy is candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker and if you drink all the liquor down Costa Rica,...." A guy wearing a tie, more of a formal outfit than the vets, came running out of the back of the room, shouting "No, no, no, no!", waving his arms. I immediately stopped playing/singing. Apparently, this was a group in recovery from alcoholism and a variety of drug addictions - lyrics to be limited accordingly. News to me, I pointed out - but was definitely shook up. I looked at my playlist mentally crossing out another 7 or 8 songs. So, let's see, Memphis Slim's Beer Drinking Woman definitely not happening... I got through the gig but thereafter always asked about my audience when the VA called.

Three cheers for Randy Newman: Not only "Short People" which was written tongue deeply in cheek, but my favorite: "Political Science" which I used to sing to international students I picked up at the airport.

Some might take: "Wedding in Cherokee County" and "Sigmund Freud's impersonation of Albert Einstein in America" and "Back on My Feet Again" as unacceptable in some venues, but they're musical gold.